Taufik Kiemas, Tommy Winata 'meet in Thousand Islands'
Taufik Kiemas, Tommy Winata 'meet in Thousand Islands'
Ahmad Junaidi and Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Amid heated debate on gambling localization in the Thousand
Islands regency, President Megawati Soekarnoputri's husband
Taufik Kiemas, Islands regent K. Abdul Kadir and businessman
Tommy Winata recently met at the latter's island.
Kadir acknowledged on Wednesday that he had met the First
Gentleman and Tommy at West Pantara island last Saturday evening
in his official capacity.
"Pak Taufik and his family, without Ibu Mega, were on
vacation. There was no talk about gambling," the regent told
reporters at his office in Sunter, North Jakarta, on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, sources at the State Palace told The Jakarta Post
on Wednesday that Taufik Kiemas went to the Thousand Islands on
Saturday, along with his daughter, Puan Maharani, and her
children.
Another source said that at the location Taufik also met with
members of House Commission IV on transportation and
infrastructure affairs.
Tommy Winata, who has three islands, namely West Pantara, East
Pantara and Sebaru Kecil, reportedly manages several large
casinos in Jakarta.
However, Abdul Kadir denied that Tommy, who is also the owner
of Bank Artha Graha, was interested in investing in gambling in
the island regency.
Kadir stated that several businessmen with gambling interests
in Sydney, Melbourne, Los Angeles and Macau had approached him
recently.
"They are all Jakarta people who run gambling businesses in
those cities," he claimed.
He said one of the investors predicted that the gambling
business could contribute Rp 1.5 trillion (US$150 million) to Rp
1.8 trillion annually to the city's coffers.
He revealed that he had met the manager of Sepa island on
Wednesday, who informed him that an investor from the Netherlands
was also interested in running a casino on the island.
However, only the Bina Dana Sosial Foundation had officially
proposed recently to run a casino on the islands, Kadir said.
"The foundation has experience in running a sports lottery in
recent years. It promised to coordinate casinos in Jakarta to
move to the islands," he said.
The regency earlier offered 36 empty islands in North
Kepulauan Seribu district to accommodate the casinos as they
are located far from the mainland.
Kadir considered that of the islands, 30-hectare Sebaru Besar
was the ideal location for a casino.
"It is the second-largest island in the regency and is located
70 kilometers from the mainland," he said.
Asked that the localization of gambling would trigger crime,
he said the gamblers would not be required to bring cash, as in
the Genting Highlands in Malaysia. They would have to deposit
money in Jakarta.
He admitted that the opening of casinos was still far off and
depended on the city administration in the current era of
regional autonomy.
According to Article 303 of the Criminal Code, gambling is
prohibited unless it is permitted by the authorities. A
presidential decree bans gambling across the country.